The Bully General's Spiritual Husband

Yu Ming gave the group of people who were making sarcastic remarks a cold and menacing look before leaving Qianzhitang. He still had to keep his appointment with Wang Fu.

Yu Ming was not very old, but in order to get closer to Wang Fu, he disguised himself and made himself look like a middle-aged man.

As they boarded the carriage to return home, Xiaoju carefully wiped Huang Xilian's sleeve, which Yu Ming had just tugged at, with a handkerchief: "Miss, why didn't you dodge? That person was obviously doing it on purpose."

Huang Xilian came to her senses and said, "I couldn't dodge in time either. Maybe he mistook me for someone he knew."

"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. Let's hurry back. Father is waiting for us to bring back the medicine."

Xiaoju nodded, feeling uneasy seeing her young mistress's worried expression.

Ever since the master met this Master Yang, their household has been in chaos. Later, Master Yang disappeared, and the master has become the way he is now.

I wonder what bad things the Huang family has gotten into.

Xiaoju felt a chill run down her spine at the thought of her husband's illness. Not only did he no longer recognize people, but he had also become irritable and erratic.

People have to take turns watching over him every day, because if they're not careful, he'll torture himself in all sorts of ways.

Last time, he startled everyone. If the guards hadn't noticed in time, the master would have bitten his tongue.

I don't know what illness the master has, but seeing the young lady looking so worried every day makes me feel sad for her.

I also heard from the old women in the mansion that recently, the three ladies have been secretly transferring money into their own courtyards!

They were afraid that if something happened to the master, they wouldn't get any benefit.

Liu Xiaoqing's house is bustling with activity right now!

Ever since he went to town to see Tian Wenyan and witnessed that scene, he immediately agreed to his father's request to get married.

Today is the day that Matchmaker Li and Butcher Lu come to propose marriage.

Zhang Ke specially made a nice set of clothes for his son, and even Liu Yong, the father of Liu Xiaoqing who often worked in town, came back.

Liu Xiaoqing was hiding in the kitchen preparing sweet water when she secretly glanced at Butcher Lu, who had come to propose marriage, through the kitchen window.

He was tall, muscular, and dark-skinned, resembling a farmer.

Liu Xiaoqing mentally compared Lu Yun and Tian Wenyan, and was still more inclined to favor Tian Wenyan.

But what happened last time dealt him a heavy blow, and thinking that he was getting old, he decided to get married.

I heard this man is a butcher, and his family is well-off. He doesn't have a mother-in-law to serve him, and he can eat meat all the time. How wonderful!

Anyway, Aunt Jufen doesn't like me. If I marry into her family, who knows how badly she'll scold me.

Zhang Ke and Liu Yong greeted the man with smiles as they entered, saying, "Auntie, Lu boy, come in and sit down."

Zhang Ke called out towards the kitchen, "Qing-ge, quickly bring out the sweet soup, the guests have arrived."

Liu Xiaoqing concealed her dejected mood, forced a smile as she brought out the food, and dared not look at Lu Yun for more than a second.

I put my things down and went back inside.

Zhang Ke laughed and scolded, "This child is shy, come and have some sugar water."

The four of them chatted in the courtyard for more than an hour, and that settled the matter.

Lu Yun also brought a lot of pork and gifts to Liu Xiaoqing's family.

Finally, Liu Xiaoqing was called out and signed the marriage certificate with Lu Yun, thus bringing the matter to a close.

Not long after Lu Yun and Matchmaker Li left the Liu family home, news of Liu Xiaoqing's engagement to Lu the butcher from the next village spread throughout the village.

Hearing this, Chen Jufen, who was tending to the vegetable garden, scoffed, "It's good that she's married. She's always thinking about my son. That short guy from Zhang's family is no match for my son! My son is going to marry a lady from a wealthy and noble family."

Unbeknownst to Chen Jufen, her beloved son was kneeling before Li Jinhu, weeping bitterly.

When Tian Wenyan was first captured by Li Jinhu's lackeys, he still held his head high and said, "Li Jinhu, I will let it go for the sake of our time as classmates."

After saying that, he prepared to leave Li Jinhu's room.

With a single glance from Li Jinhu, his henchman kicked Tian Wenyan in the back of the knee, causing Tian Wenyan to lose his balance and immediately kneel on the ground.

Tian Wenyan said angrily, "You Jin Hu, how dare you bully me? I'm going to tell the teacher."

Li Jinhu pulled out a stack of IOUs from his pocket, bent down, and slapped them on Tian Wenyan's face: "Go ahead and sue me! Tian Wenyan, take a good look, this is your name on it, right? Look closely, you owe me, Li Jinhu, quite a lot of money now. Let's talk about the interest."

As he spoke, Li Jinhu smiled smugly, looking at Tian Wenyan, who had an incredulous expression on her face.

Tian Wenyan shook his head: "No...it's impossible, this is fake, I didn't sign this note."

Li Jinhu scoffed, "Never seen it before? You still have to spend the money. Wasn't the money I paid for your drinks at Hua Man Lou? Did you really think that poor bastard Li He could lend you money to go to Hua Man Lou?"

Upon hearing Li Jinhu's words, Tian Wenyan's face turned ashen and his eyes widened.

He's fallen into a trap; it's all Li Jinhu's conspiracy.

He must have deliberately sent Li He to lure me. "Li Jinhu, is this all your doing? I'm going to tell the Master that you plotted to frame me."

Li Jinhu said nonchalantly, "Go ahead! If the teacher finds out that a respectable student like you is going to such a shady place, you might have to go back to the countryside to farm."

Suddenly, Li Jinhu's lackey chimed in, "Brother Hu, maybe Scholar Tian just likes farming! After all these years, we haven't seen him pass the exam. He probably spends all his energy on farming."

After he finished speaking, everyone burst into laughter.

Tian Wenyan dared not utter a sound now, because if the teacher found out, he feared he would be unable to stay in the school, and how would he possibly take the exams then?

Tian Wenyan dropped all pretense and hurriedly scrambled forward to hug Li Jinhu's leg: "Brother Hu, I was wrong, please let me go! I'll never go against you again."

Li Jinhu sneered: "Too late. It's only right to pay back debts. Tian Wenyan, have you thought this through? You borrowed money from me, Li Jinhu, and the interest is going to be high."

Li Jinhu pulled out his abacus and started calculating rapidly. "Tian Wenyan, you owe me a total of twenty taels of silver. I'll give you five taels of interest for the sake of our time as classmates, making it a total of twenty-five taels. Remember, if you don't pay it back in a day, I'll add one hundred coins."

When Tian Wenyan heard Li Jinhu's words, he felt like the sky had fallen. Where was he going to get twenty-five taels of silver?

His family only gave him one or two taels of silver a month, which was saved up by his mother through frugality. His mother couldn't earn more than twenty taels in a year.

Panicked, Tian Wenyan grabbed Li Jinhu's leg as he was about to leave, saying, "Brother Hu, please give me a few more days. I will definitely pay you back."

Li Jinhu kicked him away, saying, "Remember, if you don't pay back in a day, you'll get an extra hundred coins."

After saying that, he left with a group of the school's lackeys.

Suddenly, Tian Wenyan had an idea: perhaps someone could lend him a hand.

She stood up, straightened her clothes, and rushed out the door.